Attaining fluency in Korean is a goal for many, from businessmen to fans of Korean entertainment. While not as difficult as Chinese or Arabic, Korean remains a hard language to master and speak fluently. Therefore, you will need commitment and practice before you can attain fluency in Korean. Most places with Korean language lessons will always recommend learning the pronunciation of Korean words before you should begin practising writing and reading. This guide takes you through some of the ways you can improve your pronunciation of Korean words without too much hassle.
1. Practice Reading Aloud
Reading aloud is an easy way to overcome the fear of speaking Korean in public. You can find a lot of Korean content in stores and online, and you do not have any excuse for not perfecting your pronunciation and intonation skills. You can also build your Korean vocabulary by reading textbooks, comics, or even blog posts.
2. Listening to Korean Radio
You can also find your favourite Korean radio channel online without even setting foot in Korea. Listening to the radio sharpens your listening and speaking skills since the presenters speak about a huge range of topics. You also get to learn more about the honorifics system and various tonal variations from the radio presenters.
3. Record Yourself and Others Too
Select a passage in Korean about your favourite topics, record yourself while reading out loud, and replay the recorded audio file. This helps you identify your areas of weaknesses and then work towards improving them. You can repeat the same passage several times until you have perfected it. Alternatively, you can record your favourite speaker and listen to the recording repeatedly to fine tune your pronunciation. You can easily hear the inflexions in their voice and the tonal variations, which you can use in your practice.
4. Allow Yourself to Make Mistakes
The fear of making mistakes is the number one reason why most people take forever to learn how to pronounce words. Therefore, you should allow yourself to speak freely without worrying about grammar mistakes, awkward intonations or difficult pronunciations. All native speakers had to struggle before they became fluent, so it should not be a problem for you.
5. Sing Along to Korean Music
The majority of people taking korean lessons in singapore are usually inspired by K-pop. You can use this to learn the pronunciation of many Korean words and build your vocabulary. The repetitive nature of music helps you in mastering different words while the lyrics used in each song make learning exciting. You can search the lyrics to a song online to ensure you are getting the right spelling for the words used on the songs.
Learning a language is a gradual process that begins with the right motivation. You have to start with the basics before you can proceed to even think about mastering it. Therefore, you shouldn’t give up if you are not fluent after a few weeks of attending a Korean lesson in Singapore. You will eventually achieve fluency through proper practice and follow all the tips indicated above.
